


somethin' to say

by collieflower



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Ben Hanscom is a Good Friend, Ben deserves the world, Mentioned Richie Tozier, Mike is a Heterosexual(tm), Period-Typical Homophobia, but very little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 03:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21111977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collieflower/pseuds/collieflower
Summary: The plastic bags were wound around the handlebars of their bikes as they walked the roads home. Mike checked to see if the coast was clear again before he spoke."I think Will is in love with me."His steps came to a sudden stop, bags swinging with the momentum.Ben blinked at him and came to a sudden stop, bags swinging with the wasted momentum. "Has he told you that?"prompt:my best friend is in gay love with me and I need advicecharacters:Ben Hanscom and Mike Wheeler





	somethin' to say

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote prompts and characters on slips of paper and then drew them outta a jar.
> 
> I got Mike W and Ben and the prompt "my best friend is in gay love with me" and tried to make it work...? Hope y'all like it :') u can leave prompts in the comments at the end!

Mike Wheeler looked like he had something to say. That was a thing he did, Ben noticed. He just looked that way most of the time, always something on the tip of his tongue. He'd scrunch up his shoulders more, an almost thoughtful look coming over himself as his eyes carved divots into the floor under the force of his glare.

He'd been doing it around Ben a lot, especially lately. They weren't left alone. No, between the Losers and the Party, Ben thought that the two of them were possibly the least likely to be left alone in a room together.

And yet, that's what happened.

They were on a snack run. Mike volunteered him and Ben up like they were buddies, the best of friends. Bill shot Ben a little look, trying to gauge what it was all about, if it was okay for Mike to drag him out like that that. Ben didn't have a clue, but he could take care of himself.

He didn't know what kind of business Mike W. had with him, but he was pretty sure that's what it was. Business.

They rode their bikes to the little Hawkins general store, and Mike loaded Ben's arms with various kinds of snack foods and the occasional bottle of soda.

And then he was stalling. Looking between the bottles of cola and Pepsi, he got that thoughtful look. The one he wore when he wanted to say something, but was — for once — thinking twice about it.

Ben cleared his throat softly, but Mike must have thought the sodas were really damn interesting, because he just kept staring.

With a soft inner sigh, Ben stepped up. "You can tell me, you know."

Mike, clearly, did  _ not _ know. He jumped so high, Ben was quite frankly surprised that he didn't smack his head into the ceiling tiles, or cracked his crown against a fluorescent light.

"What?" he demanded. He nearly dropped a bottle of clear Pepsi. "Tell you what?"

Ben shrugged his shoulder, a Doritos bag crinkling with the movement. "Whatever you were going to tell me. Or ask me. Unless it's about killer clowns. Then I'm going to approach the subject with a five foot tent pole." He laughed, trying to put Mike at ease. It looked like it had at least some effect, with his shoulder loosening, however minutely.

He shook his head and jerked his head left and right, scanning the aisle for evesdroppers. His jaw set, and he looked annoyed, something deeper staining the rings of his eyes. "I'll ask when walk home."

With that, he led Ben to the register, digging the money his mother gave him out of his front pocket.

'Walk home' was weird phrasing, Ben thought at first, but it turns out that's exactly what ended up happening. The plastic bags were wound around the handlebars of their bikes as they walked the roads home. Mike checked to see if the coast was clear again before he spoke.

"I think Will is in love with me."

His steps came to a sudden stop, bags swinging with the momentum.

Ben blinked at him and came to a sudden stop, bags swinging with the wasted momentum. "Has he told you that?" he asked.

Mike shook his head. "But he told me, he told me that he liked boys. And I knew that! I've known for a long time that he doesn't like girls. And he knows that. So — So why would he bring it up? He wouldn't have brought it up unless it meant something, and I think it means that he's in love with me."

"Has he told you that he's in love with you?" he asked slowly, a frown coming to his mouth.

Mike slowly shook his head. "I think he's waiting for me to make a move."

Ben made a face, running his thumbs over the worn ridges of his handlebar grips. "Why are you asking me about this? You've got, like, everyone else."

A guilty sort of look came over his face. "Richie, he... He told you that he loves you. Like — Like that. And you're still friends."

Ben's nose scrunched up as he tried to recall just what the  _ fuck _ Mike was talking about. And then it clicked. Richie tossing an arm over Ben's shoulders.  _ I fuckin' love yuh, Benji, yuh know that? I'd marry yuh right on tha spot iff'in I could! _

Mike had been staring at them from across the room, looking like a gaping fish, rosy cheeked and bulbous eyes.

"You've been here before," he went on, "I thought that you would know what to do—Why the hell are you laughing!?"

Ben was almost doubled over with the force of his laugh, shoulders shaking and belly aching. He was red in the face by the time he came back up for air. Mike looked mad, maybe even embarrassed for being laughed at, but he kept himself in check beside the white-knuckled grip on the handlebars.

He broke soon, demanding just what the  _ hell _ Ben was laughing at.

"Richie loves all of us," Ben said, the bubble in the back of his throat melding around his words. "If I had a nickel for every time he said something like that—" he shook his head, still fighting off giggles. “He’s always telling us he loves us. Or Mrs Kaspbrak. It’s just this thing. Just Richie.”

“Oh.” Mike shifted, looking awful awkward with all his gangly limbs and long hair brushing his ears. “Back to square one, then. Just forget it.”

"Hey. Hey, Mike, wait!" Ben caught up with him, looked closely at him to try and gauge if the topic was still open for discussion, or if Ben was expected to drop and forget the matter completely. “Was this the first time Will told you he likes boys?”

Will bobbed his head. They swerved to avoid a pothole between them. “We all knew, but we never talked about it before.” Mike looked up, eyes looking over the line of the horizon.

"Maybe he wanted to say it out loud. Sometimes... sometimes things don't always feel real until they're out in the air, you know? Maybe he wanted to, like, make it real. For him."

Mike took this in for a long moment. He hung his head between his shoulders and puffed a sigh, cursing on the exhale. “I don’t like boys,” said, a little wrinkle between his eyebrows.

Ben just shrugged. “You don’t have to. Why do you think like you have to?”

Mike’s face screwed up. “I don’t.” He slung his leg over the bike and braced his foot on the pedal. “Come on. They’re gonna wonder where we are.” He pushed off, and Ben watched him for a second before following behind, pedaling back to the house.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://littlemumman.tumblr.com/)


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